Canada 2020: Stockwell Day says Liberals had it right on cybersecurity

At a panel on cybersecurity and privacy at the Canada 2020 conference, Stockwell Day, former Conservative Public Safety minister, said his predecessor, Anne McLellan, was on the right track on anti-terrorism legislation.

The then-Liberal government of former Prime Minister Paul Martin introduced a bill that would have enabled police to demand subscriber information from telecommunications companies without a warrant, although it died when the government was defeated.

Yet, Day, who described himself as a “serious if not a rabid democrat” indicated he has trouble with the concept of warrantless access.

The Conservative government has championed bills that would allow police to find out the identity of Canadians through their Internet addresses, saying the legislation would help fight child pornography and Internet bullying.

Day, who retired from politics in 2011, has said he would like to see the Conservative government’s warrantless access legislation split off from a part of the bill that deals with cyber bullying.

“Every time you yield power to the state, you lose personal liberties.” he said.

He suggested three strategies for Canada to pursue to ensure better online security: to make citizens more aware of privacy breach dangers along with their digital civil rights; to provide serious penalties for online hacking; and to develop technologies that protect against hacking intrusion.

Day said he was part of a company he didn’t name that is borrowing ideas from the Israeli defence force about online security.

He also reminded the audience about the story of “MafiaBoy” a Quebec high school student who managed to hack into several large companies’ servers in 2000, causing, Day said, “billions of dollars” worth of damage.

McLellan, who chaired the panel, recalled she was minister of justice just after the 9/11 attacks and it was her government that introduced the first anti-terrorist legislation.

In 2005, she said, she had tried to introduce a law mandating parliamentary oversight over Canada’s security agency, but that bill, too, died on the order paper. She said the U.K. has a parliamentary committee monitoring the activities of its intelligence operations, adding Canada is one of the few countries in the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing community that does not have such a body.

Also on the panel was Karen Neuman, Chief Privacy Officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. does not have a federal privacy officer, as Canada does, but many of its federal and state agencies do, including the National Security Agency (NSA).

In an interview, Neuman said she works regularly with privacy networks, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to make sure Homeland Security programs comply with her country’s federal privacy act.

She emphasized that Homeland Security is not an intelligence agency but instead deals with law enforcement. “Our agency does not function on secrecy,” she said. “It’s a myth I need to dispel.”

The fourth panelist, Fen Hampson of Carleton University, spoke about international cybersecurity issues. In an interview following the panel, he said, “The Internet doesn’t respect national borders. Ninety per cent of internet traffic is routed though the U.S.”.

Hampson, who is co-chair of the Global Commission of Internet Governance, added, “The best laws won’t stop Americans from accessing medical records.” He said it is imperative countries work together on internet privacy.

During the panel discussion, Neuman pointed out that Homeland Security does apply American privacy law to non-citizens whose digital information it collects “in practice.” Hampson pointed out the provision is by “executive order only” and is not part of any legislation in the U.S.

Hampson said Canadians also need to guard against individual cyber attacks. “As we move to the Internet of everything, where it’s not just your computer and your cell phone but your car, your refrigerator will be tied to the internet, we’re going to have fully developed online personalities where issues of privacy will become paramount.

“If someone hacks in they’ll be able to see that you’re not home, that your lights are out.” At one point, Hampson asked the audience how many change all their passwords at least once a week. Not one hand was raised.

Changing passwords very often, he continued, is the best way to protect online privacy, and issue he observed a recent EKOS poll found Canadians are increasingly worried about.

Day, who is on the board of Telus, said the telecommunications company has a policy that provides information about police requests for subscriber information. However, the practice, also followed by Rogers and Bell, is voluntary.

Hampson said one of the most transparent countries in the world is Estonia, where citizens are automatically notified it any government agency accesses their computer or cell phone information.

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